LIBERTAS - In the Name of Liberty

Liberty is the combination of freedom and responsibility. Alone, freedom allows people to harm each other for their own gain. Only when you join freedom to right action do you produce a just society. Without justice, freedom is worthless. To understand that you are not alone is the first step on the path.
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin, 1776

Layna McConkey, Assistant to Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot (R-Iowa), participated in election riot 2000, designed to harass the process and slow the recount until they could seal the election.

Sen. Chuck Hagle (R-Nebraska) - rigged voting machines as he ran for the Senate, undisclosed, his company that made the vote-machines. 2004

Al Gore - for going after the votes rather than demanding a total recount in which he might loose.

The Major TV Networks - Especially Jack Welsh, Chairman and CEO of NBC (owned by defense contractor General Electric) and Bush Rep. - for calling the election for BUSH and thus creating a media bias that the 'election is over' rather than neutrally the election is undecided. Propaganda.

LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post all buried the fact that Gore won popular vote in FL, as revealed by counts one year after the election.

The failure of the media in general. - None of the media focused upon the African-American disenfranchisement.

New York City – Four leading progressive institutions are today publishing “The Democracy Protection Act: 40 Ways Toward A More Perfect Union” and are holding a press conference call at 12 noon EST today, March 15, 2007. “America is threatened by a group of ‘new authoritarians’ – in the executive branch, congress, the clergy and corporations – who show enormous contempt for the value of democracy,” says the Introduction to the publication. “Our country needs its own pro-democracy movement ‘to form a more perfect union.’”

Mark Green of the New Democracy Project, Miles Rapoport of Demos, Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation magazine, and Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law jointly pledged to make democracy a major theme in their work over the next two years because "democracy transcends all other issues – indeed it is a prerequisite to nearly all other reforms."

Among the proposals advanced in the “Democracy Protection Act” are: enacting “democracy funding” in federal campaigns, creating national voting standards, making electronic voting secure, strengthening the Freedom of Information Act, making CEOs more accountable for excessive corporate compensation, and restricting presidential signing statements. (See below for an executive summary of the 40 proposals.)

In a "Declaration for Democracy," the heads of the four organizations expressed their premise and goal:

"America's two century advance toward a better democracy – with more voters, greater fidelity to the rule of law, and more transparency and accountability – is threatened by powerful people and interests who believe more in top-down rule than the ethic of debate and participation. Trampling on the values represented by the flag far more than the couple of fools a year who actually burn one, this trend poses a clear and present danger to our constitutional traditions.

"While palpable and visible crises such as Iraq, health care and income inequality assault us daily, there is a quiet crisis of democracy that is as urgent as it is ignored.

"We have too much money and too few voters in our electoral process. Too much corruption. Too high barriers blocking access to civil justice. Too much contempt for the Rule of Law.

"At a colloquium we organized last January in New York City, Bill Moyers said that what America needs most is 'a different story' than the prevailing conservative narrative of private=good, public=bad. That story is democracy.

"The ‘Democracy Protection Act,’ therefore, is designed to be a trumpet heralding that, in the words of Al Smith, the cure to the problem of democracy is more democracy. So we are dedicated to injecting the value of democracy and the Rx of a ‘Democracy Protection Act’ into the public conversation of '07-'08. That means a renewed dedication to expanding the franchise, accountability, transparency and the rule of law."

According to Miles Rapoport, president of Demos: “There's no single policy that will fix our democracy to meet the great opportunities and challenges of the 21st Century. But a broad and sustained effort to stop the growth of plutocracy, maintain our liberties, and find ways to bring more people into the process can, taken together, make a real difference. At Demos, we are dedicated to making our democracy as vibrant and inclusive as it possibly can be. The ideas here are a terrific addition to the public debate.”

According to Mark Green, who is also the new president of Air America Radio, “Public interest and progressive groups have long each worked separately on their particular issue – poverty, pollution, reckless wars, economic injustice – with the larger issue of democracy often ignored. But so long as powerful interests dominate our broken democracy, government can never solve these problems. Because of a new atmosphere for reform after the November mid-term elections, we believe that our ‘Democracy Protection Act’ can help make it a primary issue for candidates, constituencies, the media and advocacy groups. Here's a simple question to ask all candidates – are you for more democracy or against it? For a Democracy Protection Act or against it?”

According to Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, “Offering ideas to repair our precious – and imperiled – democracy is perfectly in keeping with the spirit that guides all four of the groups releasing this report. We don't exist just to curse the political darkness, but to craft solutions to make America ‘a more perfect union.’ We’ve been doing that at The Nation every single week for 142 years – and will make a special effort to restore our democracy over the next years as well.”

According to Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center: “This menu of proposals represents diverse views and approaches to the central challenge of restoring our government and its connection to the people. No one will agree with everything in here. But taken together, these proposals reflect the creative ferment among citizens who know something is wrong, and who have vivid ideas for how to make things right. We all recognize that if we don’t fix our systems, we won’t solve our problems. We have a chance to put democracy at the center of our politics where it belongs.”

Establish Voting by Mail - Follow Oregon’s example and send ballots by mail to all eligible voters, a form of universal “no excuse” absentee balloting.

Enact Election Day Registration - Make it easier to vote by keeping voter registration open until and on Election Day and merge Veterans Day into Election Day to create a national holiday called “Democracy Day.”

Create Universal Youth Voter Registration - Based on high school enrollment, automatically register all 18 year-olds to vote.

Criminalize Voter Intimidation - Make it a felony to knowingly try to stop others from voting.Bar “Voter Identification” Rules that Suppress Voting - Stop states from requiring expensive forms of ID that are tantamount to a new poll tax.

Restore the Vote to People with Felony Convictions - Enfranchise ex-offenders who have paid their debt to society.

Give the Vote to D.C. Residents - As America was founded on the principal of “no taxation without representation,” give residents of our capital city representation in Congress.

Ensure Responsible Redistricting - Establish a non-partisan system of former judges to oversee the drawing of the legislative lines.

Elect the President by National Popular Vote - Organize states that together comprise a majority of the Electoral College to agree to cast their electors to the candidate who wins the popular vote.

Tighten Lobbying Laws - Enact bans on lobbyists’ bundling, gifts, meals and travel and create an independent Office of Public Integrity that could investigate and report on congressional transgressions.

Enact “Democracy Funding” in Campaigns - Establish a federal system of public matching funds for qualifying candidates so that small donors diminish the sway of big interests.

Guarantee Free Air Time for Qualifying Candidates - Provide guaranteed TV/radio time for qualifying federal candidates as a condition of holding lucrative Federal Communications Commission licenses.

Require Congressional Oversight Hearings - To spur oversight hearing when a congressional majority covers up for an administration, allow hearings when at least a third of a panel’s members request one.

Establish a Civil Right to Counsel - Provide counsel to the indigent in major civil cases as provided in criminal cases under Gideon v. Wainwright.

Create a Real Civil Liberties Protection Office - Especially given proven abuses in the “war on terror,” fund and empower an office to investigate and expose civil liberties violations.

D. Secrecy and Democracy:

Strengthen the Freedom of Information Act - Establish the presumption that all federal agencies should release reasonably requested information under the Freedom of Information Act (i.e., there’s a “right to know,” not the requirement of proving a “need to know”).

Publish Budgets for Every Government Agency – Give taxpayers a right to know how their monies are being spent, subject to very narrow national security exceptions.

Subject Government Contracts to Open Bidding - Make government contracts transparent, subject to public disclosure and open to intense competition, contrary to nearly half of $329 billion spent on no-bid contracts in 2004.

Expand the Right to Organize at Work - Allow employees to organize if a majority signs union recognition cards and impose penalties on employers who use intimidation and firings to discourage organizing.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

In July 2006, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David S. C. Chu listed a series of inducements currently offered to get foreigners to risk life and limb for Uncle Sam. These included: "President Bush's executive order allowing non-citizens to apply for citizenship after only one day of active-duty military service," a streamlined application process for service members, and the elimination of "all application fees for non-citizens in the military."

While noting that approximately 40,000 non-citizens are already serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, Chu offered his own solution to the immigration crisis. With the services denied the possibility of a draft, he made a pitch for creating a true foreign legion from a group "potentially interested in military service," the "estimated 50,000 to 65,000 undocumented alien young adults who entered the U.S. at an early age." Chu then talked-up legislation like the DREAM Act -- which would give illegal aliens the opportunity to, among other options, join the military as a vehicle to conditional permanent resident status.

In addition to proposing a possible source of undocumented cannon fodder that might prove less disturbing to Americans than their own sons and daughters, Chu noted that the "military also has initiated several new programs, including opportunities for those with language skills, which may hold particular appeal for noncitizens." Just in case noncitizens aren't thrilled to the depths by the chance to serve with the occupation forces in Iraq, the Army promises expedited citizenship, quick advancement, and a host of other perks -- including a boatload of cash. In addition to "foreign language proficiency pay while on active duty," those willing to sell their "Middle-Eastern language skills and join the U.S. Army as a Translator Aide… in Iraq and Afghanistan" will receive an enlistment bonus of $10,000 -- a sizable sum given yearly per capita incomes in those countries which hover in the $800-$2000 range.

The Army is recruiting more criminals than ever to meet the dwindling reserves, says Fox News.

Seventy-percent of women in the military report sexual assault by their peers and superiors. These survivors are warriors in jeopardy every time they sleep or go to the bathroom. See Eli Painted Crow - Voices of Women Veterans, and recognize a true American Hero.

Racism in the military is on the increase. Minority soldiers are forced to train new white recruits in their MOS (Military Job Specialty) then the minority soldier becomes the assistant to the person they just trained. This is unacceptable.

If the U.S. Military is full of racists, rapists and criminals, who gets promoted first?

Thursday, March 08, 2007

First, America should stop attacking Muslim countries in ways that multiply terrorism. Second, instead of only talking about exporting democracy, Washington should begin practicing it here at home, for example by making sure elections aren't auctions, which means the public funding of public elections.

So we're both optimists in the spirit of Walt Whitman, who wrote that "America is always becoming." Well, Air America too is always becoming.

But that requires a conversation called democracy. In the spirit that dialogue beats monologue, I am today contacting the New Hampshire Republican Party and the New York Post editorial page. Since the Democratic Party of Nevada actually invited Fox News to host that state's Democratic debate, I asked if Air America could host the first Republican debate in New Hampshire, assuring them that we too can be fair and balanced.

And to Bob McManus, editorial page editor of The New York Post, I proposed that he come on Air America to discuss his views and that Air America commentators would in turn once-a-month write an op-ed on his pages, because it's better to exchange ideas than insults. His 720,000 readers should hear from us and our 2 million+ audience should hear from him.

Mark Green is the new owner of Air America Radio, the only progressive comercial radio accross this nation. Read the full statement and keep running your mouth about the only thing that ballances the scale of public discourse, Air America Radio.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Join the California Clean Money Campaign and California Common Cause for CLEAN MONEY - CLEAN CITIES, a one-day conference reviewing the benefits of Clean Money publicly-financed system for elections and how local governments are using clean money systems. $30

• Clean Money Basics: Activists and elected officials provide an overview of Clean Money systems and developing city-level proposals.• Know the Law: What are the constitutional and legal issues facing Clean Money systems?• The Inside Story: Campaigning and governing in a Clean Money system.• Winning Clean Money: Successful campaigns at the ballot box or in the city council.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 by John Gardner as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest.

Now with nearly 300,000 members and supporters and 36 state organizations, Common Cause remains committed to honest, open and accountable government, as well as encouraging citizen participation in democracy.

Monday, March 05, 2007

What if there was a great and powerful nation, say China, that attacked Mexico because of the unjust dictator that is running the country. If they overthrew the government and installed a puppet regime, and yet couldn't quell the violence of guerrilla forces, because Americans kept supplying those fighting for their freedom with weapons and food. If the Chinese then decided to invade Texas, so that they could stop the supply of weapons, how would we as sovergin Americans respond?

Easy, right, we would kill all the Chinese who crossed the line, then we would kick their ass out of Mexico, and we would even threaten them with nuclear war. To preserve our freedom we would be willing to end the world.

The Corporation - The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (Hardcover)
by Joel Bakan (Author)
A history of the most powerful institution of the 21st Century, the Dangerous, Amoral, Immortal, and Unaccountable, For-Profit Business Incorporation.